Cidera Raises $75 million in Funding

Cidera (www.cidera.com) announced that it has received $75 million in Series D preferred stock funding from a group of new and existing investors led by Wheatley Partners. Through its satellite-based distribution network for the Internet, Cidera offers a means of transporting broadband content for content providers, aggregators, and distributors.

Cidera, based in Laurel, MD., also announced that it has withdrawn its registration statement for an initial public offering. Cidera initially filed this statement in March 2000.

Edward Postal, executive vice president and chief financial officer, said, "Raising a private round of this size in today's challenging capital markets provides the funding that will enable us to get to the next level.'' A spokesperson for the company indicated that the company saw this as a positive move, ending the quiet period enforced on pre-IPO companies and allowing the company to move forward with aggressive marketing and branding.

Cidera's new investors include: Berger Funds, Grupo Pegaso (Mexico), meVC Draper Fisher Jurvetson Fund I, Munder NetNet Fund, National Investors Group (National Bank of Kuwait), Rare Medium Group, Inc., Trans Cosmos (Japan), and Wheatley Partners.

Also taking part in this round are Cidera's existing investors, including The Carlyle Group, GE Equity, Institutional Venture Partners, Investor AB, MCI Worldcom Venture Fund, New Enterprise Associates, and others.

Cidera, founded in 1997, has raised more than $137 million to date.